The PA stumbled from one failure to another Has its reckoning arrived? 972mag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 972mag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After years of hibernation due to internal conflict, Palestinians were expecting to head to the polls on May 22 to choose local representatives to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) until those elections were (again) postponed indefinitely by President Mahmoud Abbas last week.
Those who preach to Palestinians about democracy, including Americans and others in the international community, must take an active role in an effort to ensure these necessary elections take place.
The PLC, a 132-member council aimed at regulating life for Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, was created through the Declaration of Principles, often referred to as the Oslo Accords, signed at the White House in 1993. That agreement was supposed to serve as a five-year interim solution until an independent Palestinian state was established. It has, unfortunately, become near permanent.
Why Palestinian Elections Should Get Back on Track
Format
Citing Israeli obstruction, President Mahmoud Abbas has put off elections that were slated to begin in May. The decision is disappointing, as Palestinian institutions need refreshing. The polls should be rescheduled, with the full backing of outside powers, including the European Union and United States.
This publication is part of a joint initiative between the International Crisis Group and the United States/Middle East Project (USMEP) to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On 29 April, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “indefinitely postponed” three separate rounds of elections in the occupied Palestinian territories that had been scheduled to start on 22 May. His announcement, four months ago, of dates for these elections had come as a pleasant surprise to many Palestinians. No voting for Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions, which exercise limited self-rule in the territories, or the Palestinian na
94 shares
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech regarding the coronavirus pandemic, at PA headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 5, 2020.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night announced that the first Palestinian national elections in 15 years would be indefinitely delayed.
The vote would be postponed until Israel agreed to allow East Jerusalem Palestinians to participate, Abbas told a conference of senior Palestinian officials. The decision was widely interpreted to mean the elections will not be held at all in the foreseeable future.
“We have decided to delay the legislative elections until the participation of Jerusalem [residents] is ensured,” Abbas said in a statement following the meeting.